Drawing Parallels

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on that sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. 

I looked up this poem and reread it after reading "Matched" by Ally Condie. She mentions the poem in her novel about a dystopian society. I really like this poem. It speaks to the part of me that loves adventure and doing crazy stuff like Tough Mudders and skydiving. The part of me that isn't afraid of dying, just of dying poorly. I only get one chance to experience life on this rock, and I will not live in fear of what might happen.

(So, this was lost in my drafts for a few years. Better late than never!)

Hello again... 2012: a year in review.

Hello, my name is Jennifer.
I have a blog.
I got a little busy and forgot about it, for 13 months.
I am back and will try to do better.

So, what have I been doing? What has been going on that has kept me away from you? Well, let's see:

My job responsibilities went through the roof when our Sports Director at the Y quit to take a full-time teaching job at a local high school. I have been chasing my tail since last summer as we try to stay at least one week ahead of the sports chaos that never ends. Fortunately, I have a great work partner who shares the load handling all of the 'on the field' responsibilities while I handle the office/paper work.

Julia joined the 4H BB team. Learn how to shoot a BB gun, all the parts of the gun and safety & compete at meets. I became a certified coach for this BB team.
This was on top of school, soccer at the Y and joining the Book Club at school which required her to read 20 books and compete in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl. (Her team won the county meet and continued on to State! They didn't place, but Julia did take one round all by herself.)

My bestie moved home to Pittsburgh and left me with the title of PTO President (which I never wanted). But she brought me into her circle of friends that she has 'collected' through her travels around the country and now we all laugh and share via Facebook. These ladies are funny, smart, talented & fiercely devoted to family and friends. We share each other's burdens, slap each other out of a funk, ask parenting questions from those with kids older than our's, tell stories about neighbors or co-workers that we can't tell anyone 'local'.

I finished up my PTO responsibilities at Heard Mixon and passed on the baton to the poor suckers that decided to stay.

I turned 35.

We visited our new nephew Philip Wesley Towns III in NC.
That same weekend we saw TFK & Manafest live in concert! (we also discovered Nine Lashes at that concert, good band.)

Summer came and went with it's usual bang, but the kids were old enough this year to hang at the camp some and even work a little in the canteen. They preferred, however, to spend as much time as possible at Grandma's house and play with their cousins.

Julia spent almost as much time away from home as not this summer! Soccer Camp, Church Camp, Wildlife Camp, Camping with Grandparents, long weekend at my sister's.

Connor attended his first Boy Scout Summer Camp - 4 days, 3 nights - by himself.

We made several weekend camping trips with the kids to state parks. We tent camp and cook our own food over the fire. The kids love it! We have been to Fort McAllister, Tallulah Gorge (adult only trip), Tugaloo State Park, Lee State Park (with Leroy and Ryan for the Tough Mudder weekend).

TOUGH MUDDER!!! Russel & I completed our first TM October 27th in South Carolina. If you don't know what this is go to their website and check it out: Tough Mudder  We did a lot of training before the race building up our strength and stamina. It paid off because we did a lot better than we expected to, although I had bruises that didn't go away for about 6 weeks, and Russel had to deal with bruised ribs from falling off a 12 foot Berlin Wall.

Saw our niece Samantha get married.

Sent our nephew Zach off to college. (Julia has had a hard time with this. They are pretty close.)

Welcomed our first great-nephew Edward Clark Lang into the world.

My baby girl started middle school & joined the youth group at church. (this makes me feel old!)

DISNEY CRUISE!!!! This was our family vacation for 2012. Four night cruise aboard the Disney Dream. Amazing. Can't wait to go again!

And I read 23 books, a short story and a poem.

What’s Your Reading Profile? | BOOK RIOT

What’s Your Reading Profile? | BOOK RIOT

This is a new-to-me blog that I really like, and this post in particular got me thinking.... what is my reading profile?
Looking back over my list of books it breaks down like this:

23 books from 2004-2006
Christian - 7
Historical Fiction - 3
Action / Suspense - 22
Contemporary Authors - all - 14 total, but 6 of them worked on the same series
Series - 2 (6 each)
Based on a TV show - Alias Series

20 books in 2007
Series - 3 (Alias - 6; Transformers -2; The Bourne Trilogy)
Sci-fi - 6
Action / Suspense - 20
Contemporary Authors - all - 13 total, but 6 of them worked on the same series
Based on a TV show - Alias series

21 books in 2008
Series - 2 (Alias - 13; Women's Murder Club - 7)
Action / Suspense - 21
Contemporary Authors - all - 15 total, but 13 of them worked on the same series
Based on a TV show - Alias Series
Made into a TV show - Women's Murder Club Series
(i think i was a little obsessed w/ Alias this year!)

18 books in 2009
Series - 1 (The Chronicles of Narnia - 7)
Christian - 1 + Narnia
Non-Fiction - 1
Sci-fi - 1
Fantasy - 1 + Narnia
Classics - 3
Contemporary Authors - 8
Heart Wrenching - 2
Action Packed - 3
Painfully slow but worth it - 1
Romance w/ biting wit & sarcasm - 2
Historical Fiction - 4
Dark twist on a Classic Movie - 1
My daughter read it first - 8

20 books in 2010
Series -2 (The Percy Jackson Series - 5; Women's Murder Club - 1)
Young Adult Lit - 5
Action Packed - 14
Sci-fi - 4
Historical Fiction - 2
Classics - 2
I thought the movie was better - 1
Best last line of a book - 1
Dark twist on a Classic - 3
Contemporary Authors - 9
My daughter read it first - 5
My daughter wants to read, but I said "not until you're older" - 2

10.5 in 2011 (so far)
I didn't finish / "saved for later" - 1
Contemporary Authors - all
Series - 2 (The Heroes of Olympus - 2; The Kane Chronicles - 2) both are still "in production"
Sci-fi - 4
Action Packed - 10
Historical Fiction - 1
He better hurry up and write the next book because the last line was just mean! - 1
My daughter read it first - 5

My new obsession

I should have known better.
I had been warned.
But I let my curiosity get the best of me.
And I looked.
I typed in pintrest.com in my web browser and immediately was hooked.



I had to be part of the club. I had to have an invite.
I put out a request on Facebook and one of my friends from church hooked me up.
Now all I want to do is find cool stuff and "pin it".
I keep reminding myself: you can pin a million things on your virtual board, but will you actually get around to doing that or making them?
Who knows?! Right now I don't really care.
My artistic hunger is ravenous and must be fed.
When I am too bloated on other people's fabulousness I will take a break... or maybe start posting pics of my fabulousness for other people to pin.
Only time will tell.

Now I must go and add a new "follow me" button to my blog and Facebook.
And if you need a hook-up, I know a guy. He'll let you in.

Steep hills

Last week we had a day when we couldn't make it to the Y to run, so we took a run as a family around the camp. Reminder: the camp is one big hill and some of them are pretty steep. And even though there are 500 acres of land, the roads are condensed into one area so you have to make several loops to actually get any distance. Unless, of course, you brave the road. (might as well run on the highway.) We got in 2 miles that night in about 30 minutes. I had to do the "grandma run" up some of the hills (ie: little steps), but I got in a really good sprint at the end.

Today I ran on the treadmill at the Y, but I didn't have time to do a full 5K. So I ran for 2 miles straight at 6.0 (10:00/mile). Then I did another 0.5 mile with the incline set at 2.0 and the speed set at 5.4 (11:00/mile). Feel the burn baby!

Total distance and time: 2.5 miles in 25:43

Getting Stronger

Pushed through to 1.5 miles at 6.0 (10:00/mile) before pausing to check my heart rate, then kept going to 2.4 miles at 6.0 before my bladder made me stop. Final time for first run 24:45. After my potty break, I ran an additional mile in 9:48. Most of that was at 6.0, but I sprinted for as long as I could at 7.5 (8:00/mile).

After a good stretch I hit the weight machines, but I only worked out my legs. We ran out of time, and I was tired!

Time Crunched Day

I only had 20 minutes to run today. But I got in 1.9 miles. I ran one mile at 6.0 (10:00/mile) without stopping. I took a heart rate check while walking for about 0:30 then kept going for the remainder of my time. 5K in 30:00 here I come!

Getting Closer

I did it! 5K all the way through at 5.5 speed (11:00/mile). I paused once to check my heart rate, but that was less than 30 seconds. WooHoo! Final time was 33:51. Now I need to increase my speed some to get to my 30 minute goal.

Pushing Through

I have been trying to increase my distance at my current speed of 11:00/mile. I had been getting stuck at 2 miles, so today I pushed through and just kept running. I had to cut myself off at 30 minutes (and trust me I was NOT complaining!) because people were waiting for a treadmill, but I ran the whole time at 5.5 (11:00/mile)!! My distance came to 2.74 miles. I'm pretty confident that I can keep going through the whole 5K distance if no one is waiting for a spot, but we'll see.... 5K under 30 here I come!

No Pain Day!

Today I didn't have time to get in a full 5K, but I did run 2 miles without stopping at 11:00/mile pace. And it didn't hurt during or after. I was stiff all over from the weather all day, but while I was running my knee and ankle didn't hurt, so Yeah! I finished my time out with a 0.25 mile cool-down for a final time of 26:12.... had to leave time to stretch before running out to pick up the kids.

Just keep running, just keep running....

(note: the title of this blog must be sung to the tune of "Just keep swimming" by Dory from "Finding Nemo")

Well, now that my 5K Challenge has passed, I need a new goal. So here it is: to run a 5K in 30:00 minutes or less. I would like to be able to do this by the Cheerios race, but I don't know. My knee and ankle have both started complaining. I thought it was just the cold snap the past couple of days, but that might be wishful thinking. So, I am going to really focus on strengthening the muscles around both my knee and ankle as well as some serious stretching so I can "just keep running. Just keep running. Just keep running, running, running. What do we do? We run, run, run." (did I get the song stuck in your head? hee. hee. hee. -- that's my evil chuckle)

I did run today. Since my 5K challenge is changing, I decided to focus on extending the length of time I can run at a faster pace instead of getting in my 3.1 miles in a shorter time. So I pushed past my comfort zone and ran a full 2 miles at 5.5 or 11:00/mile. This left me with 8mins in my 30:00 minute allowance at the Y. So after my heart rate came down and I no longer had a stitch in my side, I did a couple of "sprints" at 7.0 (about 9:00/mile I think). I was only able to go about a quarter of a mile each time, and I rested for about 2 minutes in between, but it felt really good. The fear of being propelled backwards off a treadmill can make anyone run faster!

5K Challenge -- Day 17

Today was the day. I made my time official for the Race to Nowhere.
And what was it you ask? Hmmmm....?
34:53!!!
I got it under 35:00. Yes!
So, now I am going to work on getting it to 30:00 or less by April 16th for the Cheerios Race. (not that I can actually run in it, because I have to work it, but that's my deadline.) An added bonus -- if no one else beats my time in my age group I win! I know, I have already won because I have come so far, and I met my first goal. But bragging rights don't hurt either!

5K Challenge - Day 16

Tuesdays are busy days at our house. Add to that it is the 1st and work compounds that. So.... I didn't get to actually run today. But, Russel and I did walk about 2 miles around the Outdoor Center during Julia's soccer practice. Better than nothing!

5K Challenge - Day 15

Well, we're in the home stretch. Got to make my time official by Friday. I was kind of bummed when I realized I had gotten the dates mixed up, but Audri (one of my work peeps) told me something that made me rethink it a little. She said that it would be good to go ahead and get my time now and then keep working on it and time it again right before the Cheerios race. She said I would be surprised by how much better it would be by then. So that's what I'm going to do.

As for today's run..... really happy! 35:17 !! That's 0:45 off my time from Thursday, and I didn't do anything (nothing at all) between then and now. But I will confess that I really pushed myself today. I ran the whole first mile at my faster speed (10:30/mile) which meant that the other 2.1 miles were harder to maintain at a decent speed. But I mixed it up and threw in a few 0.3 - 0.5 mile bursts of quick runs to make up some time. A couple of those I pushed all the way up to 10:00/mile (6.0 speed setting).

More to come soon!

5K Challenge - Day 14

So, I realized today that the deadline to have my 5K logged for the Race to Nowhere is March 5th not March 15th. Gah! That means I have to do an official run by next Friday! I'm thinking it is going to be hard to get to that 30:00 minute goal I had set. Which is kind of a bummer. BUT - I will keep going and try to get it to 30:00 by the Cheerios race on April 16th. (in all reality that is probably a more realistic time frame to meet the goal).

Where am I now?  36:02!
I switched up my run a little tonight. Full disclosure: it was unintentional, but it worked out well! I started off faster (10:30/mile) for the first half-mile then went down to my steady (12:00/mile) for the bulk of my run. At the end I cranked it back up for the last 0.4 mile to finish.

5K Challenge - Day 13

36:50!!!! Yea!!!!

I ran 2.6 at 5.0 (12:00/mile), then because I knew people were waiting for a treadmill (like I had to wait 20 minutes! over the courtesy 30 minute limit) I cranked it up to a 5.5 (10:30/mile) for the last half-mile. Now that I'm home, I really really need to stretch.

Confessional

So, back in December I told you all that I was finally coming to terms with my body even though I knew that I was overweight. And then in January I went for my physical, found out my cholesterol was a little high, and challenged myself to run a 5K. Well, in training for that 3.1 mile run, I have dropped a pants size and become noticeably toner. Now, I should say that in my newly enlightened state I am indifferent to this change, but that would be a lie. I am loving it! So there. I confessed.

5K Challenge - Day 12

Had a good run today after church. Still at the 37:24 mark on my 5K, but I did 2 miles of that at 5.0 (or 12:00/mile) which is progress! Probably could have done it faster if we hadn't gone to the Y right after lunch.

Russel and I stayed at a friend's house Friday night while the kids were in Perry with the grandparents, and Saturday morning we jogged around their property. I think it took about 40 minutes, we forgot to look at the time when we left. That was harder for me than being on the treadmill because of the uneven ground and hills and trying to set a pace and trying to set a pace where Russel (Mr. 6'1") can actually run too! I walked several times. But it was a good change and kept us from slacking off and eating junk food.

5K Challenge - Day 11

Last night, while waiting on the copier to print out some stuff for work, I did some weight machines at the Y (all legs and core work).

Today I ran my 5K while waiting for the printers to finish up an almost 3,000 page project for work that was due at 11:30 this morning. About 15 minutes in my legs started telling me they did not appreciate what I had done to them the night before, but I pushed through, and they shut up. At mile marker two, I got a phone call from the printers saying that they were done with an hour and a half to spare! Talk about making my day! So after I hung up the phone I got back to it at regular pace (4.8 or 12:30 / mile) for a while then I ended up pushing myself hard for the last 0.6 -- I bumped up my speed to 5.5 (10:30 / mile) and pushed through to the end. My final time for the 3.1 miles was 37:24 !!!!  Full Disclosure: I was sucking wind HARD when I got done, but I did it. Now, I need to increase my time at that speed, and I will make my goal for sure.

After I delivered my forest of paper before my 11:30 deadline, Russel came by and took me out for lunch. And then, just for grins, we went back to the Y and hit the weights. I did all upper-body stuff today, and I know that my arms are going to be fussing at me tomorrow.

Oh, and it's official! I have registered for the Race to Nowhere. No turning back now!

5K Challenge - Day 10

Woo! Hoo!
I ran the entire goal distance -- 3.1 miles -- without stopping!
First time ever.
And, I did it in 38:49 minutes.
Only 8:49 minutes over my goal time.
I have about 45 - 50 days to shave that off before I run it for official time in the treadmill race. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.